Sunday, April 12, 2015

Dragon boating is a very popular water sport
and there are festivals held all over the world. Many of those have special
breast cancer survivor races, plus there are international breast cancer
survivor only festivals.

I belong to a breast cancer survivor dragon
boat race team. I have been to an international festival in Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada, one in Caloundra, Queensland, Australia, and one in Sarasota,
Florida, USA. About one hundred teams gather from around the world at each of
these events and it is amazing to see the thousands of women dressed
in pink.

Each team has twenty paddlers in the boat, plus
one drummer and one steersperson. The drummer, who sits at the front with a
drum and baton, pounds the drum to keep us paddling in rhythm while the
steersperson in the back keeps us on course. Both of them watch our
paddling technique. The boat is narrow at both ends and bulges in the middle,
making it a tight fit for the paddlers at the front and back. There are two
paddlers per seat and the person beside you is your partner.

As paddlers we have one hand on the handle of
the paddle and the other on the shaft near the blade. We raise the paddle and
lean out over the side of the boat so that the paddle is vertical and both
hands are over the water. We rotate our upper bodies which puts the blade of
the paddle beside the hip of the person in front of us. This is our reach. We
jab the blade into the water and pull it back until it is near our own thigh
then lift it out. That is our stroke. All the twenty paddlers have to do this
in unison, called timing, in order for the boat to go forward. The faster we
stroke the faster the boat goes.

I find that Facebook is a wonderful tool for
connecting with family and friends around the world. Each day there are many
funny videos and thoughtful sayings shared on it. The following is a list of
orders given to dragon boat paddlers by their steersperson or drummer that was
shared on Facebook. I have heard them all either during practice or in a race.
However, taken out of context they may be considered a little off colour. I
have added a few to the list as well.

Followers

About Me

I was born in New Westminster B.C. and raised in Edmonton.I have worked as a bartender, cashier, bank teller, bookkkeeper, printing press operator, meat wrapper, gold prospector, house renovator, and nursing attendant. I have had numerous travel and historical articles published and wrote seven travel books on Alberta, B.C. and the Yukon and Alaska that were published through Lone Pine Publishing in Edmonton.
One of my favourite pasttimes is reading especially mystery novels and I have now turned my writing skills to fiction. However, I have not ventured far from my writing roots. The main character in my Travelling Detective Series is a travel writer who somehow manages to get drawn into solving mysteries while she is researching her articles for travel magazines. This way, the reader is able to take the book on holidays and solve a mystery at the same time.
Illegally Dead is the first novel of the series and The Only Shadow In The House is the second. The third Whistler's Murder came out in August 2011 as an e-book through Books We Love. It can be purchased as an e-book and a paperback through Amazon.
i live on a small acreage in the Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island.